From 22 to 29 November 2025, Hamza Boltaev, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Afghanistan and South Asian Studies, undertook a working trip to Kabul aimed at strengthening academic and expert-level cooperation with leading Afghan research and educational institutions. The visit focused on building direct professional links, identifying shared research interests, and discussing practical formats for sustained dialogue, such as joint seminars, co-authored publications, and regular expert exchanges.
On 23 November, Mr. Boltaev met with representatives of the Center for Strategic Studies under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan. The discussion highlighted the importance of developing ties through practical cooperation and consistent communication between expert communities. The Afghan side expressed interest in deepening contacts between Kabul and Tashkent at the research level and underscored readiness to support joint analytical work, collaborative events, and publication initiatives that can strengthen mutual understanding and inform future cooperation.
Later the same day, he spoke at the seminar “Afghanistan – Uzbekistan Relations: Opportunities and Future Scenarios”, organised by the same Center for Strategic Studies in Kabul. In his address, he emphasised the value of institution-to-institution academic partnership as a stable and constructive basis for long-term relations through research collaboration, professional networking, and regular dialogue platforms.
On 25 November, Hamza Boltaev held talks with the Centre for Strategic & Regional Studies (CSRS), where the Afghan side presented the centre’s analytical and publishing work, including thematic research units and an active outreach approach through regular commentary and a multilingual journal. The meeting focused on forward-looking cooperation with IAIS, especially co-publications, mutual participation in roundtables and conferences, and establishing a rhythm of reciprocal academic visits to keep collaboration continuous rather than episodic.
The next day, he met with the team of The Liaison Office (TLO) in Kabul. The organisation shared its experience working through a broad field presence across the country and its thematic programmes covering areas such as community engagement, environmental and natural resource issues, access to services, and youth-related initiatives. The discussion explored possible cooperation with IAIS through expert dialogue, knowledge exchange, and joint initiatives that connect Afghanistan and Central Asia around shared practical challenges and regional cooperation needs.
Mr. Boltaev visited Kabul University and met Dr Hamid Salary, Vice Chancellor for Research. The university shared updates on its research management system, academic publishing activity, and institutional development, including new academic directions and a growing focus on research outputs. Particular attention was given to opportunities for cooperation between Afghan and Uzbek universities and research centres through joint academic events, collaboration between journals and researchers, and engagement with specialised initiatives hosted at the university, including work related to documentation and digitisation of academic materials.
Overall, the working trip to Kabul helped lay the groundwork for sustained institutional partnerships and opened concrete pathways for future cooperation. As next steps, the parties discussed continuing communication to identify priority themes for joint research, preparing collaborative events, and exploring formal frameworks that could support long-term academic exchange between IAIS and its Afghan counterparts.
